Lessons In Butterflies

Chapter 6: Smudge Of Confused Chaos

1st Person (Shella's POV):

Trey McAllister. 

That was his last name. Of course, I knew it—how could I not? 

He was one of the younger, "cooler" teachers, the kind who wore tailored pants and rolled up his sleeves like he belonged in some kind of movie about quirky but hot teachers. 

And of course, every girl in class was obsessed with him.

"Alright, class," Mr. McAllister said, turning to the board and writing out Newton's second law in his neat, blocky handwriting: F = ma.

Force equals mass times acceleration. 

Easy enough in theory. Not so much when I'd be staring at my homework later, totally confused. He kept explaining basic equations to re-jog our memory, his voice a smooth hum, as I scribbled down notes, trying to keep up.

I glanced at Dani, who was furiously copying everything down, and Juliet, who seemed to be in her own world, doodling something that looked like a galaxy at the top of her page. I shook my head with a small smile. 

We'd made this decision together, signing up for Physics, thinking we were brave enough for it. But now... I wasn't so sure.

Suddenly the door swung open, a little too hard, and the boys from the brother school strolled in, breaking my concentration. They were wearing their uniforms—maroon blazers, neatly knotted red, gold, and black ties, and freshly pressed white shirts. 

My eyes quickly scanned the group as they filed in, one by one, taking their seats at the back.

That's when I saw him.

Dark hair, messy in that effortless way, and features that looked... strikingly familiar. Too familiar. My heart did this weird flip in my chest as I took in his face. His sharp jawline, intense dark gaze.

No, no, it couldn't be.

But it was. He looked almost exactly like Mr. Caldwell.

I sat up straighter in my chair, trying not to let my shock show. My face flushed, and I quickly dropped my gaze to my notebook, trying to calm down. 

It's just a coincidence, I told myself. It had to be. 

Mr. Caldwell didn't have a younger brother, did he?

"Shella?" Dani whispered, looking at me with a concerned expression.

"Yeah," I muttered, rubbing my cheek, realizing it was probably bright red. "I'm fine."

God, I wasn't fine. Not at all. It wasn't even like I had a thing for Mr. Caldwell or anything—it was just... strange. 

Really strange. 

I hadn't interacted with a boy outside of school in forever, kind of a loser move, but what did anyone expect? It's an all-girls school. Not exactly a lot of social opportunities with the opposite sex. 

But now there was this one who looked so much like my teacher that I couldn't focus on anything else.

McAllister's voice droned on as he continued writing formulas on the board, and I winced as the marker pen squeaked against it. 

I copied the next formula down but I couldn't stop myself from sneaking glances at this guy. He sat slouched near the back, like he didn't care about anything. Every time I looked, I swore he was staring straight ahead, completely unbothered, but my stomach was doing somersaults.

I felt Dani poke me again, but I ignored her, trying to focus on the board.

"Alright, who can tell me how to calculate The Force  for this problem?" Mr McAllister asked, tapping the question he'd just written.